


within this pitch black darkness you're shining so brightly

by bubblyying



Category: TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, i made tyun sad i'm so sorry, taehyun just needs a hug, taejun emotional anchors, yeonjun is a good hyung
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22813168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubblyying/pseuds/bubblyying
Summary: In which Taehyun is just having a terrible day, but at least he knows his Yeonjun-hyung would always be there for him.I got reminded of how Yeonjun is Taehyun's emotional anchor. So yes I will remind everyone else about this so BE SAD WITH ME.
Relationships: Choi Yeonjun & Kang Taehyun, Choi Yeonjun/Kang Taehyun
Comments: 5
Kudos: 143





	within this pitch black darkness you're shining so brightly

The practice room is pitch black. Except that you could see the occasional brightening up of a phone screen with worried notifications and missed calls, ignored by its owner.

The room is quiet. Except that you could hear Taehyun’s soft sobbing as he curled up on the floor, burying his head into his arms which were around his knees, folded up to his chest. His body shook with the force of his tears and his hands felt numb from clinging too tightly onto his arms, nails digging into and leaving marks on his skin.

Taehyun was having a terrible day.

Comeback day was approaching, and tensions were high. Because of how exhausting practice the day before had been, Taehyun had missed his alarm and had woken up later than usual – not so late that he would be late for school, but it meant that he had to rush his morning routine while sharing the bathroom with Huening Kai and Beomgyu, who usually woke up after he was already done. It also meant that he was already grumpy and not feeling prepared enough to face the day – which also involved an upcoming exhausting practice ahead.

“Taehyun, please watch your step in the chorus. You’re repeating the same mistake.”

“Sorry, instructor-nim,” he whispered, looking down at the floor and wishing that the earth would swallow him whole. He felt Huening Kai pat him on the back in comfort, but it did little to alleviate the stress he was feeling.

The instructor moved on, but Taehyun could not listen anymore; his head was still buzzing with a medley of thoughts and worries.

As the practice ended, Beomgyu jumped up with a shout, calling out to his tired members for supper.

“It’s okay, Beomgyu-hyung, I’ll just grab something on the way home. I still need to settle a bit of work with producer-nim.”

“If you say so….. don’t stay too late, alright? Text us when you’re about to head home.” Beomgyu said softly as he put his arm around Taehyun, rubbing his shoulder affectionately.

The younger boy nodded, eyes still not meeting his hyung’s. He missed Beomgyu’s worried look that was shared with the rest of the members, especially Yeonjun’s thoughtful glance towards Taehyun. The members said their respective goodbyes to Taehyun, and the door shut behind their loud chatter.

Taehyun stared at the door for a moment, before heading towards the large computer they had in the practice room to play their song again. He had to work harder. He felt guilty for lying to his members, but he did not want them to offer their help. He just needed to make sure he could do this on his own.

He was already planning to leave the practice room at 10pm, frustrated by his lack of progress on the move he constantly could not get. That was when he received that phone call from his mother. Hobak was sick. His baby had somehow gotten fleas again, and his mother only called to ask where Taehyun had placed the flea spray in the house. Somehow, that (and the stresses from the entire day) was what pushed him over the edge. Cut to his current situation, where he was crying so hard that his entire chest was heaving and his body was trembling.

_He was a bad pet owner. He could never keep up with his members on his choreography. He could not even keep a consistent waking-up schedule. He did not deserve to comeback with his members. He was a bad idol. He did not deserve his beloved MOAs, who had supported them from the very beginning._ The thoughts continued to escalate, which made matters worse as it caused Taehyun to break down even more.

The notifications from his phone had stopped a while ago, but now Taehyun heard the click of the door to the practice room as it opened. He felt the room illuminate in dim lighting - the person probably wanted to locate him but didn't want to startle him with the intensity of the light.

“Taehyun-ah….”

Taehyun gasped as he recognized the approaching voice. He tried to stifle his sobs so the person would not hear how hard he was crying, instead letting occasional sniffles out. He refused to uncurl from his position, however, and he felt the person sigh as they settled down onto the floor, still a safe distance from him.

“Taehyun-ah, what are you still doing here? We’ve been looking all over for you. Didn’t you say you were just settling some business with producer-nim?”

Taehyun did not reply – he could not even if he wanted to, lest he let the person hear how raw and painful his voice would be after crying for a long while.

He heard the person sigh as he inched closer, placing a gentle hand onto Taehyun’s head and stroking his hair softly. Taehyun found himself leaning into the touch, his sniffles getting softer and less intense.

The person sighed again. “Please tell hyung what happened? I want to help you, Taehyun.” His voice was soothing and non-judgmental, and Taehyun felt himself choke up in tears again.

Taehyun broke.

He moved like a flash into Yeonjun’s arms, burying his face into Yeonjun’s chest as he felt himself sob even harder. Yeonjun almost fell over due to the impact, but Taehyun felt his hyung’s arms curl tightly over him as Yeonjun rubbed his back soothingly, whispering words of comfort and concern into his ear. Taehyun felt soft kisses being pressed into his head as Yeonjun continued to hold him as close as he could.

“Aigoo, Taehyun-ah, we shouldn’t have left you alone.” Yeonjun sighed. His heart broke with how hard Taehyun sobbed, and how badly his body was shaking from the intensity. His younger brother, who always took things in stride, who had never cried that much even during their trainee days. All he could do at that point of time was to hug him close and hope that Taehyun would regain his composure.

A few agonizing minutes had passed, and Taehyun felt himself breathing more easily as his sobs softened again. He slowly pulled away – but not much, preferring the comfort the close proximity gave him. Yeonjun lifted up a hand to tilt Taehyun’s chin up, and he made a sad noise at how Taehyun looked – tear tracks running down his face, his face blotchy and big eyes red and still shining with even more tears as he sniffled. He (reluctantly) removed his other hand from Taehyun’s waist and used both his thumbs to gently wipe the tears that were falling down Taehyun’s cheeks. The younger boy did not respond, but just stared blankly at Yeonjun as the physical contact comforted him.

“S-sorry for drenching your shirt, hyung.” He finally managed to blurt out, cringing a little at how raspy his voice sounded.

Yeonjun scoffed, resting his hands on Taehyun’s upper arms. “If you think I would be mad at something like that, you have not known me for years.”

That forced a small smile out of Taehyun, and Yeonjun’s heart warmed again at how Taehyun had gradually stopped crying.

Yeonjun continued, albeit hesitantly because he was not sure how Taehyun would react again. “Would you tell me why you were crying, Taehyunnie? We’re all worried about you. I know it’s not just instructor-nim’s words, because you’ve never been this upset over things like this.”

He sensed the hesitation on Taehyun’s face, and started to rub his arms in what he hoped was a soothing gesture.

“I just…” Taehyun took a deep breath, his own hands reaching up to grab at Yeonjun’s arms.

And he told Yeonjun everything. Yeonjun stayed listening as much as he could, humming sympathetically as Taehyun described all his worries and frustrations leading up to his breakdown. As Taehyun finished, he realized how tense his shoulders were and how clenched his jaw was, and he had never felt _so_ tired.

But as he looked up at Yeonjun to gauge his reactions to the whole rant, he noticed Yeonjun just smiling softly as he looked at him thoughtfully.

“It’s okay to feel this way, okay? We all have bad days and it’s good to let all these feelings out. How are you feeling now?”

Taehyun bit his lip as he looked down onto the floor. “Better. I think…. I think I just needed to let it all out.”

Yeonjun hummed, letting go of Taehyun’s arms only to pull him into a warm hug again.

“We can work on the choreography together tomorrow. I also have a few things that I need to work on; but what’s most important is that I don’t want to leave you alone to work by yourself again. Hobak will be fine, he has his medications and your family is always prepared, aren’t they? And I’ll even wake up earlier for at least a week to make sure that you wake up on time again, okay? I don’t mind it.” Yeonjun mumbled, softly stroking Taehyun’s hair.

“Are you sure?” Taehyun tilted his head a little, looking up at Yeonjun. The latter nodded, smiling reassuringly at Taehyun again.

“Okay,” Taehyun nodded back slowly as he flashed Yeonjun a look of gratitude.

The two of them remained hugging for a while, Taehyun’s face buried in the crook of Yeonjun’s neck as Yeonjun rocked them to and fro.

“Taehyun-ah.”

“Hmm?” Taehyun looked up into Yeonjun’s eyes, only to find Yeonjun smiling at him with a soft fondness that he reserved for the people he cared most about.

“You know we’re always here for you, right? It’s not just me. Soobinie, Beomgyu and Hyuka will also do anything for you. You can always find any of us to talk to, okay? I’m always here if you need me. When we first met on your first day I swore I will do anything for you, and that still stands. Through trainee period, through pre-debut period, through all our years as idols, and probably even through our years of sitting in rocking chairs. What else am I your emotional anchor for?” Yeonjun smiled, reaching forward to place a final kiss onto Taehyun’s hair.

Taehyun hummed. “My emotional anchor.” He repeated softly, and Yeonjun could finally grin upon seeing his maknae smile genuinely again.

Yeonjun looked at his own phone, wincing a little at the numerous notifications that were also on his phone, the other members yelling at him to report where he was since Yeonjun forced them to stay at home, asking them to rest before school tomorrow (which was not a valid reason for Soobin, but Yeonjun stood his ground as a hyung) as he headed out to search for Taehyun on his own. He stood up, offering his hand to help Taehyun stand up as well.

“Let’s go home. The others are worried. Can you walk or do you need me to carry you home like in the old days?”

“My legs are still working,” Taehyun rolled his eyes as Yeonjun chuckled at his snark.

“But you’re still my baby brother, you tiny baby-“ he teased, glad that the atmosphere was lighter.

“Hyung, one more word about my height and I will actually punch you-“ Taehyun whined and Yeonjun laughed even louder.

“Alright, alright,” Yeonjun acquiesced after a while. He smiled softly, holding his left arm out and waiting for Taehyun to cling onto him – which the younger boy did eventually, unconsciously nuzzling his head into Yeonjun’s arm, exhausted from the day’s activities. Yeonjun let his smile grow at how adorable and affectionate snuggly Taehyun was, before lifting Taehyun’s bag off the ground and onto his right shoulder. “I love you, Taehyunnie. You’re always gonna be my beloved brother. You know that, right?” he added suddenly.

“Yeonjun-hyung…”

“Say it back!!”

Taehyun rolled his eyes once more as he could hear Yeonjun's pout in his voice. “Fine, fine. I love you too, Yeonjun hyung.”

They left the practice room, holding each other as close as possible as they started their journey home.

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd, sorry if there're any continuity mistakes.  
> Title taken from the English translation of Save Me lyrics by BTS.
> 
> twt: @/tataekvng


End file.
